If you thought that Goosebumps was the reigning champion of children’s horror series in the 90’s, clearly you never experienced Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz. The book was originally published in 1981 and was followed by More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1984) and Scary Stories 3: More Stories to Chill your Bones (1991). As soon as you open the first book, Schwartz warns you that “Some of these tales are very old, and they are told around the world. And most have the same origins. They are based on things that people saw or heard or experienced – or thought they did.”
Schwartz collected these stories from various folkloric sources and put a spin on some to make them creepier, but their origins date back for generations, and in some cases, ancient times. However, the stories aren’t the only reason that these books are so fondly remembered by 80’s and 90’s kids. The books are imprinted in our memories due to pictures that look like this:
Imagine this guy dancing in your living room.
But then there’s this guy.
I still don’t know what’s even happening in this one.
…aaand there goes my appetite.
This famous imagery was produced by artist Stephen Gammell, who started off producing images for children’s books, though they were originally more uplifting and colorful:
From this…
To this.
These images, combined with such gruesome stories made these the #1 most challenged books of the 90’s. I remember bringing these home from the school library as a kid and reading them with my siblings over dark, rainy weekends in October. I was always drawn to the stories and the pictures, and at night before bed, I would carefully place the books as far away from my room as possible, as if to ensure that the slithery-dee would not, in fact, come out of the sea.
Complaints about these books came from concerned parents who claimed that their kids were having nightmares and wetting their bed due to the content. There are no heroes in these stories, just mischievous ghouls, vengeful ghosts, deceitful monsters and brutal killers. Alvin Schwartz and publishers Harper Collins stood proudly by the series for many years, claiming that they motivated kids to read. But that was until the 30th-anniversary release. Harper suddenly removed all of the artwork produced by Gammell and replaced it with art from Brett Helquist, known for his work on A Series of Unfortunate Events. The result looks like this (via Adventures in poor taste and io9):
Imagine that chick on the left watching you read.
Nope…nope nope nope nope
Right off the bat, you can tell that something is wrong. Helquist is a talented artist in his own way, but the decision to make the books friendlier by replacing the art that made them so iconic to begin with has been met with anger by the generation who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. In both of the above examples, Gammell meant for the images to feel as if they were rising out of the page. I remember the hair standing on the back of my neck when I would read these stories with those eyes (or lack thereof) staring back at me the whole time.
In the Helquist drawings, the characters are too busy to notice us, the readers. Although the priest in the picture above and the sleeping girl below are both clearly having a bad day, the images allow us to feel safe from harm. For more comparisons/analysis check out this article over at Adventures in Poor Taste.
The first surprise mentioned in the title is an upcoming documentary on this subject, which is currently in the process of raising funds. A trailer for the documentary can be seen here:
Though Alvin Schwartz passed away in 1992, his family has shown support for this project and have offered input on the subject of modern-day censorship for young readers. There is more information available on their Indiegogo page.
The second bit of good news is that Guillermo del Toro, the mastermind behind Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak took to Twitter to announce his involvement in the production of a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie for CBS films, though the release date currently remains unknown. Del Toro was already a childhood fan, and to say that the books may have helped to inspire his fascination with ghost stories and urban legends may not be entirely far-fetched. He has two original artworks from Gammell framed in his home, which he presented as part of his Twitter announcement below:
The day that millennials everywhere held their breath in unison
Prior to writing this article, I decided to revisit my childhood library and picked up the trilogy in order to refresh my memory. As a kid, I always had a bad feeling about these books, and yet I couldn’t figure out why I was so mystified by them. After reading them cover to cover recently, I finally understood something that I wasn’t quite able to articulate when I was younger.
These aren’t just tales of mindless gore. They have been around for a long time, and at some point in history, these stories meant something to someone. Some were meant to represent various types of anxiety that we experience in our lives. Others are cautionary tales meant to warn us of the dangers of trusting a stranger while walking alone at night, leaving your car unlocked, ignoring the warnings of your elders, disrespecting the deceased, caving in to peer pressure against your inner instinct, trespassing upon private property, or popping a pimple that turns out to be a spider egg inside your face and then having to deal with thousands of mini spiders crawling all over your skin and covering your whole body.
At first glance, I can understand why many parents would be hesitant to let their kids be exposed to these books. But as Schwartz himself said in reference to The Hearse Song, a morbid poem that describes death in a childish way: “With children as the audience, it is a more gruesome song, but it is not as grim. One scholar associates the change of words with a change in function. During Word War 1, the song helped servicemen deal with the fear they felt. These days it helps children confirm the reality of death, yet through satire and humor deny its reality for them.”
Although the world itself can sometimes be a scary place, a huge part of growing up is to face your fears and understand that there never was a monster under your bed (unless it happened to be your sister waiting to scare you in a deformed pig mask, but that’s a story for another time). Only then will you learn that it’s ok to walk down the hallway without switching on the light…though some habits die hard.
For the sake of nostalgia (and I have a weakness for nostalgia), I will close off by sharing one of my favorite short stories from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This is one in particular that has stayed with me since childhood. So sit back, dim the lights, hug your pet, and enjoy The Ghost with the Bloody Fingers by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell.
By: Michael Gonzalez.